Settling Unfinished Business
by botany957
Summary: Re-posted! Milah has been waiting over 300 years to settle her unfinished business. Yet the three people she waits for found ways to cheat death, and so she waits, stuck in the Underworld. One day, she will confront each of them, and finally will be able to move on. Rewritten ending for Milah. Disregards 5b.
1. Prologue

She knows why she is here. Her story is not finished yet. And although time does not work the same here as it did during her life, she knows she has been here much longer than most. And time does pass slowly. She does not have to eat. Or sleep. She simply exists, listlessly waiting, pondering for them to arrive. So she can rest in peace and head on to the next step. Whatever her fate might be.

At first, the place was village she had grown up in. She stayed in her hut from her life, though it was a gruesome distortion of it. Not that she had liked it much in life, mind you. Most of her life had been in that hut. She had been born there, grown into a woman there, been carried across the threshold there, and most beautifully, bore a son there. Yet, she had not died there.

She stayed in the distorted version of her village for sometime with others she had known in life, but slowly everyone else's unfinished business became finished. Their missed loves, unfinished feuds, unending hatreds, promises, and vows were all completed or let go in some manner. And when she was left alone in a village, the man came. He was not a man, he was something more elusive, but she knew nothing more of him than he controlled whether she stayed or moved on.

The man relocated her. She was on her beloved's ship. Or, rather, a shadow of his ship. Her beloved would have never let it go into such disrepair. She met some of the sailors she had known in life. They told her that they had lived more than one lifetime, and that her beloved was in Neverland plotting to avenge her. And so she lived on a parody of the ship always sailing through rocky waters, guiding the lost sailors as a way to solace herself, while she waited. But eventually, all the sailors found the ones they were waiting for. And they, too, moved on. And then the hateful man reappeared. She asked when she would move on. He shook his head and said that she was unusual. The three people she had to face had found ways to cheat death. So her business would remain unfinished. So she would have to wait a little longer yet before her judgment.

She was relocated, again, this time to an unfamiliar place. A village unlike any she had never seen before. The other residents told her that it was from a different realm. But eventually, she found a way to navigate the desolate place, and settled down to wait. Again.


	2. Her Son

A/N: So this concept came out of the spoilers I saw for the second arc of the season where Milah is back, and this spins from the question, what is her unfinished business? The writers have made it very clear that the Underworld is more like purgatory than Hell, and so she is in a waiting space. Also inspired by the book/mini-tv series "The Five People You Meet in Heaven." I do not own any of these characters. As mentioned in the summary, 5b disregarded.

 _When she first found out she was pregnant, she was excited. She had suspected that she was, but poverty made a woman's courses irregular, so she had said nothing to her husband.. He was proud to go into battle, and she did not want to worry him when he left. In the coming months, as she took over her husband's job as spinner for the village, she passed the time at the wheel delighting herself with baby names. She tried them out on her imaginings of children in her head, seeking on that would fit. She knew that she should wait for her husband to make a final decision on a name, but that could be a long time coming, or never._

 _She hoped her child would favor her looks. She had only seen herself in a mirror once, in her adult life, on the day of her wedding, but she had seen her reflection enough in water and received enough compliments from villagers to know that she had some beauty. Her hair was her vanity, and she brushed it a hundred strokes everyday with a bone comb to keep it tidy._

 _She imagined that her child would also have sparkling eyes, and would have a strong spirit. Her husband was a gentle man, but weak-willed. She giggled imagining a stubborn child melting her husband's heart, and refusing to back down from whatever the disagreement they were having. She finally settled on a name: Baelfire._

Storybrooke. This is what they call this place. But she has come to understand that this, like the other places she has waited, is a grotesque parody of the real place. There are many more people here than had been in her village or on the Jolly Roger. Many more stories, and more realms than she knew existed. There are kind people here who help her adjust to the life that she does not completely understand. With those people, she talks, and she finds out who they are, and whom they think they are waiting for. Others, she avoids, mistrusts, and even though she reminds herself she is dead and can no longer be hurt, the self-preservation instinct is still strong.

One of the benefits of this larger place is the possibility of finding a purpose. She takes baby steps, after centuries being unused to having a purpose. She finds inspiration one day while walking through the town and a child materializes in front of her. The little girl was no older than five or six years old, and the wide eyes of terror and confusion. "Where am I?" the little girl asks. She doesn't know the answer for sure, but she suspects that the parent of this child is here, waiting to make amends with the child. She kneels down to her level and asks the girl her name. She takes the girl hand in hand, and they begin the search.

This is how it begins. Its starts with one girl, but shortly thereafter she has a gaggle of children with her. She convinces one of the 'good' people that they should reopen the burned out school. She cannot read or write well, for in her village, there was never a call for a poor young woman to learn to read. She learned to read a little with her beloved on his ship, but mainly he read to her, and taught her how to write her name and do arithmetic, saying that it was more essential to understand numbers. There would be time for reading. Yet there never was. So she cannot teach the children book learning, but she knows others in town that can. She become passionate about her cause, aiding these small children until they finish their unfinished business.

 _She wailed as the midwife, who she could not afford, encouraged her to push. None of the villagers would help her now. They had heard of her husband's disgrace on the battlefield. They had sneered at her belly, for the child would be just like the father. A coward. She willed for the tales about her husband to be falsehoods, and the predictions of her child to be wrong. Then, one stormy night, her child decided it was time to arrive in this world._

 _The labor endured past wee hours of the morning, and after into the mid-morning sun. The villagers could hear her cries, yet with exceedingly few exceptions to fetch water or pay for the thread spun, no one came. And she loathed her husband, almost as much as she desired this baby to come. Fortunately, her baby was strong and had a fair set of lungs on him as well. He was a lusty plump baby, and she knew he would live. The midwife told her that her newborn son was a fighter, and she sighed with relief, knowing he would have courage._

Sometimes, the children do not stay long. Their mothers, fathers, siblings, grandparents have been waiting for them a long time. Sometimes the childhood hurt is soothed quickly, and both parties move on to the next step with the unnamed man. Other times, she get surprised, when an adult stops her and thanks her for taking care of him or her. Sometimes the child transforms to the adult they were at the time of death after the childhood business is finishes, yet other business remains from their adult life.

Helping these children is therapeutic in a way. During her life, she lost her child through her own choices. She had always thought there would be time to find him again, and sail away with him, so she could continue to mother him and have a partner who was a better father than the one he had been born with. Helping these children find their loved ones, so they could move out of this desolate place assuaged her guilt that had plagued her for the endless time that she had been waiting. The constant wondering of where her child was, what he looked like, what had happened to him with his father, what he thought of her, which had plagued for so long, quieted to whispers as she worked with these other children.

One day, her lost ones brought her a new one. Her heart skipped a beat, for the young boy in front of her, she knew. He was of her blood and flesh. Last time she had said she was going for a walk, even though he knew it was a lie. She had glowered those with resentment that she had responsibilities to a child, willing to be free of drudgery. The raggedy boy looked up at her, disbelieving for a moment. "Momma?"

Her voice was breaking. "Yes, Baelfire. It's me."

 _She could not take it anymore. Not this dull life where she did the same thing day after day, not being able to laugh and have fun, worrying about money everyday, being with a husband who loved her enough to imprison her, but not enough to start over with her. She had begged them to leave this seaside village. He could take his trade anywhere. Yet he refused. He used their son as his ensnaring point. "Baelfire has a good life here." "Bae can learn to read like we never did." "Bae needs healthy air."_

 _And so she resented her son. She could not take long walks by herself, without him clinging to her skirts. He was timid, and afraid to be out of her sight. And even though she loved him like every mother loves her son, she felt trapped. She longed for adventure, yet her husband and child would not let her go. And this bitterness seethed. And seethed._

"Poppa said you were killed by pirates." She smiled sadly.

"Poppa was mistaken. I was killed by an angry, evil man."

"Not a pirate?"

"No."

Baelfire looked at her with soulful eyes, and she began to feel the tears well up. She fell to her knees and hugged him tightly. "I have missed you so much, Baelfire. I should have never left you behind."

"Did you not love me?" The little child is direct. His eyes are shining, tears threatening. Although the cavity where her heart should be, it aches all the same. "You left for a walk, and never came back. Poppa said you loved me, but I wasn't sure."

The sobs wracked her now. "Bae, it was the biggest mistake to leave you. I have loved you from the moment I knew you were in my tummy. After I left, I missed you everyday, and I wanted to come back for you when you didn't need Poppa anymore. But I knew in my heart, he loved you and could parent you much better than I ever could. But I died before I could come back. I was a coward. And I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

The boy looks unsure, scared by all the tears his mother is letting go for the first time in many years. "You love me?"

"Yes, Bae. Very much. Let me keep loving you."

Suddenly, she finds herself at the receiving end of a strangling hug, and a stage whispered, "I love you, Momma."

Then her child is not a child anymore. He is a grown man, with short hair, and the odd clothes they wear in this town. She takes in how handsome he is, and they both stand up, and regard each other. Her son smiles, takes her hand, and says "I go by Neal now."

He tells her his story. And she soaks it in. She rejoices at his bravery, and saddens at his weaknesses. For he inherited her impulsiveness, her black-and-white views, and lust for adventure. But he also inherited his father's sense of family. And for that, she smiles. He talks, and she predominately listens, until the hateful man appears.

"It's time to go." He says softly to her son. "You need wait for someone else."

She clutches his hand for she does not want this brief respite to end. She has finally found her son again. The hateful man regards her with an aloof look. He tells her she will meet her son again, but after both of them finish their unfinished business.


	3. Her Lover

A/N: Corrected with for grammar mistakes. This is probably the hardest chapter to write, so I will be interested in your reviews. Of all the relationships on the show, Killian and Milah have the longest running relationship, around seven to ten years, depending on how old you think Neal/Baelfire is when she leaves. I imagine them meeting would be difficult for the both of them. Please review!

 _Her husband was busy at the wheel, so she went to the tavern to intermix with others. When sailors were in town, they had money to spend, which included mending of clothes, ordering of cloth and so on. The weaver, and the tailor were already pressuring him to hurry with the work so they could meet their deadlines, so it fell to her that day to see if there was any mending to do from the tavern's guests. The wife of the barkeeper/innkeeper was a generous woman, who had known Milah since birth. As she had gotten on in age, she could no longer do all the mending herself, and allowed Milah and her husband to make a few extra coins or earn meals at the tavern in exchange for finishing the mending._

" _Fancy a pint, love?" A man clad in leather with the bluest eyes she had ever seen, leaned into her. She had not noticed his approach. He was very handsome in an intoxicating way. She felt the stare. And then saw his mouth quirk. Oh, he knew what he was doing._

" _You have me confused for a vulgar woman." She said curtly, and turned around._

" _Believe me, love, I would never mistake you for being common."_

After three hundred years, the problems she had had in life seemed a lot smaller than they had been at the time. For example, why did she not take Bae with her when she wanted to leave? That might have been the catalyst for her husband to finally leave town and for their family to start over. Or why did she not have the strength to refuse his proposal to begin with? She could have sought her own fortune. Yet, she would not trade the happiness and family she found with her lover for any recompense. He had empowered her, worshipped her, and guided her to find independence. And she had loved him for it.

She would recognize that ship anywhere. After all, she had been doomed for a century to haunt it for over a century. But now it was here in Storybrooke. She could not muster up the courage to hope if he was there. She had heard whisperings from the others what had happened to her beloved since they had been cruelly and abruptly parted. She walked quickly towards it. Dodging the territories of the different sections of town, she hastened her pace, just like she had the first time. And she saw him. His back was to her, and he was at the helm. Just like in the beginning.

" _You came." He breathed, as she got on deck._

" _Did you doubt I would?" She kissed him, and excitement danced in her abdomen._

" _Not even for moment. Put your things in my quarters. The men will finish loading and then-"_

" _We'll be off?"_

 _He clicked his heels, took her hand and kissed it as he bowed. "Milady, your adventures begin."_

"Hello, Killian." She mustered to have a voice strong enough that he could hear her. He straightened and then turned around slowly. He looked hardly older than she had last seen him. Perhaps a little closer to her age, but still had the vigor of youth. She ached as she saw the loss of his left hand. This is what her husband had done to him after her heart had been crushed to ash.

"Milah" He breathed. His eyes roamed her figure. Not with the roguish twinkle in his eyes that had always made her breath catch, but with a disbelieving look. Here was the man who had loved her more deeply than she had thought possible for almost a decade. Their romance was passionate, and love ran deep. Yet, the rushing warmth and undeniable attraction she once felt for him had abated greatly over the centuries. And now she had many more questions.

"It has been a long time, Killian." She says softly, gathering her courage to come walk closer to him. He still smelled of the sea, and her memory was overwhelmed with memories of their years together. And the anguish of what the whispers she had heard about him after her death. And his history with Bae.

"You look just as I remember." He said, but uncertainty was in his eyes. She had seen that look before. When she would wake up from her nightmares, crying, because she had lost her son. As he tried to comfort her, she would see the fear that she would leave him to go back for her son. She chuckled, at his words, however. "Death does keep you from aging."

" _What if you tire of me one day? What if you seek someone closer to your own age? Someone you could marry? A woman that could bear more children?" She said, looking wistfully into the mirror. The crows feet under her eyes, and the hollowness revealed that she no longer had the roundness of youth._

" _Milah, darling, this is ridiculous. I love you. How could I tire of the fiercest woman I know? The one who has the passion to match mine, and the thirst of adventure? I don't want some timid young wife. As for marrying, are we not married in all but name? Besides, you are beautiful." He wrapped his arms around her waist, while looking at her through the mirror, his voice lowering seductively. "I could not find another woman who is so easy on the eyes, wondrous to touch, and delectable to taste."_

" _As for children, we will go back for your son, Milah. Say the word, and we will go fetch him."_

At a loss again for what to say, she gestures to the bench that overlooks the ocean. "Shall we sit?"

"Aye."

The sat on the bench, angled towards each other, alternating between looking out at the horizon, and briefly glancing at each other. A thousand emotions and thoughts coursed through her. She had imagined their reunion in so many ways, but now she was at a lost. She concentrated on the easiest thing first. His hand. His hand was gone. Hesitantly she reached out for the hook. "Did he do this to you?"

There was a tick in his jaw. "Aye, love."

"Bae was captured by Pan's shadow, fell into the ocean, and our crew rescued him?"

"Aye"

"And he lived with you for sometime?"

"Aye. Several weeks." She noted the evenness in his voice, the note he had when he was gauging an opponent.

"You offered for him to live with you." It was a question. It was a statement. Her son had told her as much. Baelfire had said he lived with Killian for several weeks, but ultimately decided to leave, and then was captured by Pan. He hadn't met her eyes while telling that story, and she sensed there was more to it.

"Aye"

"But he was captured by Pan."

Killian stood up and went to the water's edge. "Is that what he told you?" He asked, quietly. "Is that was Baelfire told you?"

"He didn't mention the details. But why wouldn't you rescue him? He is my son. You were going to be his real father." She felt anger simmer and hot tears prick her eyes. "Had I been captured by Pan, you would have died trying to save me."

She saw Killian inhale deeply, square his shoulders, and turn around. "It was my fault, Milah. I handed him over." His voice was raw with emotion. "Your son didn't wish to live with me any longer, Pan was looking for him…and I saw a profit."

Milah wished for her sword. She was trembling, but with rage or sadness, she did not know. "How dare you."

"Darling, I was wrong. I was so consumed with darkness after your death, and Pan had promised information on how to kill the Dark One in trade for Baelfire. Bae had found the sketching of you that you had made me years before. He accused me of your murder, which only played into my own guilt over your death. His father had told him that a pirate had killed his mother. He didn't want to stay with me." He choked on his own words, his whole frame portraying the brokenness inside, whispering out. "I was a villain. I lost my way after your death."

 _They never had disputes in front of the crew. Killian did not want the crew to see the division between them. But in their quarters, they would hash out their disagreements._

" _Going through the heart of the storm is suicide, Killian."_

" _Its a war ship, Milah. It belongs to him. The man who is responsible for my brother's death."_

" _There will be others! You would sacrifice the lives of your crew and your life for the vengeance?"_

" _They knew what they were signing on for when they joined! Some have been with me since the beginning. They know!" He was practically spitting in his face. She didn't back down, she got back into his face._

" _You are too hot headed! See sense!"_

 _At the same time they pulled their swords, and the clash of metal on metal awoke their senses, both breathing heavily, and Milah's mood changed instantly. "I usually prefer more enjoyable activities, when you have me on my back." Killian let a smirk escape him. "A truce, then, my love?"_

The story stumbled out. And her anger abated. She listened to how he cheated death. How he spent almost three hundred years letting vengeance dictate his every move. How he had met her husband again. How he almost killed her husband's true love (an inconceivable idea to her). How he met Baelfire again and his actions to try to repair their relationship. How he loved Baelfire's son, Henry. And how he hoped Henry loved him. How before his death, he had started to make amends to Baelfire by being the father Henry needed.

"You love Henry's mother." She was conscious that Killian's arms were around her, and he was absent-mindedly stroking her hair like they had done a thousand times before. And how right it felt. The words stung, but not as much as she thought they would. The caress stopped, and she felt his chest rise and him inhale deeply.

"Aye. She is-was-my true love." Milah sat up and faced him, keeping her face neutral. He kept going. "At first, I was horrified that I would dishonor your memory that way. But Emma, she-"

"It's okay, Killian. Centuries have passed. For the both of us." She took his hand, and smiled. "You aren't the hot-headed pirate that asked me to runaway, anymore. You are a patient and loving hero. Your heart would also change. I'm just sorry that I dragged you into such a long enduring mess."

He let go her hand, and pulled up her chin so she could not look away. "Milah, I will cherish those seven years we had together, forever. You were my first love. The balm to my brother's passing. And maybe, living those long years was a way to make good on my promise to take care of our family. And I'm the one who is sorry. Sorry, I did not defend you more in face of the Crocodile. I'm not sorry that you left your husband, but I wish we had done it differently. And maybe our fates would have been different."

She was crying. And she knew it. But she had also outgrown holding grudges and hating those who had wronged her. All she wanted to remember was the love they shared. She leaned in and kissed him gently. She pulled him close, and whispered. "It's alright. I forgive you."

She saw the man who takes people away coming, but she didn't want to drag out their good-bye any longer. "Good-bye, Killian." She looked into those beautiful eyes one more time, got up. And walked away.

There was only one person left to wait for.


	4. Her Husband

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews. This is the last chapter! The driving questions for this chapter are: what would you say to your former husband? What would you say to your murderer? What would you say to the father of your child, who abandoned him? You may recognize some of the flashbacks from the second season. 'The Crocodile' is the best example of Rumple and Milah's relationship, and from there I just filled in the pieces. Milah didn't get the air time she deserved in the show, so I wanted it to end differently.

She did not have to wait long for his arrival. After her lover had left, she felt she would see the Dark One soon. Her former lover and former husband were tied as two sides of the same coin. And she was right. It was soon after that Rumpelstiltskin came to her. She knew he would. A husband and wife, no matter how destructive their relationship, are always drawn to each other- if only by morbid curiosity.

She did not share a happy tale with her husband. Although much of her life tales were unhappy, she recognized that the marriage was a cage of her own making. She had been too afraid to face the world alone, that she listened to a man who offered her little, but more than she had on her own. It had been her undoing.

" _No respectable man will marry her." She heard the whisperings often. She tried not to hear them as she passed through the village to buy the needs for the home she lived in._

" _Indeed not! Born in a brothel, playing and growing up there as if it was a home instead of wreckage of a place. She is probably part of the business now. I wouldn't doubt it. They get younger and younger all the time."_

" _I thought those women get paid better than that! She looks half starved. Don't let the look fool, you. It's the hunger that makes her look so young. It's been nearly twenty summers since she was born. I remember her marm, charmed all the sailors who came into the port."_

 _She looked in the puddle below her. She had hollow cheeks, and her figure had not rounded out like many women of her age did. Her clothes were shabby, and she appeared destitute. The desperation peered out of her eyes. She had no friends, no family, and no knowledge of what was outside of the three main streets of her village. And she was hungry. But no one offered her anything._

 _Except one man. He had a gentle touch. The spinner in town. Whenever she went into the shop to make purchases for the house she worked in, he invited her to eat while he displayed his wares._

She was helping her children cross. Something caused her to look up, and at the intersection to which the children were heading- he stood. He wore the clothes that were in style of the strange place she now dwelled, but unlike last time she had seen him where he had had skin like reptile and his hair crimped and this eyes turned into slits, he looked much like the man who had offered her a home when had none.

The brothers, running shy on customers, had been planning to sell her to breakeven one month. She had not not known this, of course, nor did she know that she could be given away. When she did learn, she was distraught, taking to the street life. No one would take her in, for she was, in their eyes, a soiled woman. Yet, the man with the kind eyes offered her a way out. And she took it. She even adored him for a short while because of it.

After the children had crossed, she went up to him, at the intersection. He was a more confident man than she remembered. More like monster that she had seen on the day of her death. But he was more controlled now than he had been then. She wondered if he was still angry at her. She remembered the last day she had had hope for their marriage. The day he left for war. They had had such hopes. She could be forgotten as the woman who grew up in the brothel. And he could be forgotten for being the son of a coward.

"Hello, Milah." There was no warmth in that greeting. Not that she expected any, but she had hoped that after finding his true love, maybe his anger would have abated.

"Hello, Rumpelstiltskin. It has been a long time."

"So it has. Have you seen our son?" This was an unexpected question. Yet he had always been the better question.

"Yes. But he has moved on." The pain could not be concealed behind his eyes now. She realized she should give him a moment, but she plunged on with eagerness. "Can you tell me about our grandson? Henry? Bae said he had a son."

There was a small smile. "I can do better than that. You can meet him."

" _I know you are unhappy here, but if you can't try for me. At least try for Bae." She tried to keep from rolling her eyes. It was always about their son. She wished her husband would quit throwing it in her face. She was not the starving orphan that he married anymore. She could now see what could be better for her, better for them. But all Rumple cared about was their son. Never about her needs, or the needs to repair marriage. She did not want to be ashamed of him, yet how could she not be? He never stood for anything, except their child. He always stood up for family- but only family he was directly related to._

She only spoke briefly to Henry's mother. She was not sure what to feel towards her, and did not want to complicate the matter. Henry strongly resembled her son, and what she had imagined Bae looked like as a teenager. She saw why both Rumple and Killian were so strongly attached to him. Her grandson was eager to find Killian. It was apparent he looked up to him as a father figure, and she wondered how much this hurt her former husband.

" _That night I met Killian in the tavern, he told stories about the places he had been and I-I fell in love with him." She told the monster before her, desperate to save her lover's life. She bargained for their lives, ushering him to the ship to make their trade._

" _Is this it then? Can we go our separate ways?"_

" _You mean, can I forgive you? Can I move on? Perhaps, perhaps. But I have one question."_

" _What would you like to know?"_

" _How could you leave our son?" The rigging snapped, and she could feel the fury roll off him. "Do you know what it was like going home that night, telling OUR son that his mother was dead?"_

" _Rumple, it was wrong for me to lie like that."_

" _You left him! You abandoned him!"_

" _And not a day goes by that I don't feel sorry for that!"_

" _Sorry isn't enough!"_

"I was a coward, Rumple." She said softly.

Her former husband put up his hand and turned to leave. "I don't want to hear this."

She grabbed his arm. "Careful, Milah." He said evenly, but she heard the undercurrent of a threat.

Taking a deep breath, she hardened her resolve. "No. You didn't let me finish last time. I do not need your forgiveness, but you need to hear my apology. And you broke our deal. The magic bean for our lives. So you can at least hear me out."

Rumple smirked. "Although Ms. Swan is determined to find your former lover, I am not going to help him return to the living. I'd imagine you'd prefer it that way as well. I must say that pirate seems to stir up powerful emotions in women."

The last time she fell for his bait he ripped her heart out of her chest. Although he could no longer cause her such harm, she refused to be bated. She has had 300 years to dwell on such matters, after all. "This is not about Killian. This is about us- and Baelfire."

"Don't say my son's name to me." He leaned in, the air shimmering with heat. Hissing, he said "You have no right."

"He was my son, too. And we have sorted out everything. He has forgiven me."

"It is more than you deserve."

"Yes, but that is not for you to judge." She continued on. "I want you to know that I was hypocritical to call you a coward. I did not have the gumption to tell you I had fallen in love with another man. Nor did I have the strength to tell you why I was so unhappy in our marriage. When you refused my solutions, unknowing why I was so unhappy, I despaired instead of opening up to you. I am sorry I left our son. But I felt like you had used him to shackle me to the village."

"When I left, I reasoned to myself that I had left him with the parent that loved him more. I remember you swearing that you would never leave him. That you would not be your father. You were so devoted to him, that I felt that it was better he stay with you. And I did not want to destroy you. As much as I despised our situation and the lack of love in our marriage, I did not want to take the only light in your life. But I regretted leaving him almost immediately. But after tasting freedom, I felt like I would die returning to the village-where our family would be more despised than it was before. So it was better to stay away, than come back and kidnap Bae."

Rumple had gotten much better at hiding his emotions since they had been first made man and wife, but she could still read him. His anger was eking out as he listened- "What I'm trying to say, Rumplestiltskin, is that I underestimated you. I underestimated your devotion to Baelfire. I underestimated the lengths you would go to get our son, and to avenge his grievances. I underestimated your capacity to love. No matter what else your faults, I was the coward when I left you. And for that, I am sorry."

For a moment, she saw the sadness in the deep brown eyes. And then it was hidden. "If you are looking for an apology, dearie, I'm not going to give one. Nor forgiveness"

"No, I would not expect such." She was a ragged breath. "But I don't hate you anymore. I don't hate you for manipulating me into marriage. I don't hate you for keeping me shackled. I don't hate you for threatening the man I love. I don't hate you for lying to our child. Or abandoning our child. I don't even hate you for murdering me in front of the love of my life. Baelfire has escaped you, Killian has escaped you, and now, finally, so have I. You will never be given another thought. Good-bye, Rumple."

She spun on her heels, feeling lighter than she had ever felt in a long time. Everything weighing on her for so many eons finally lifted. As she walked towards the docks, she had the sense that everything around her was fading. Storybrooke was becoming lighter, the people were disappearing, and only the ocean was still clear. The man, the man she had dreaded for so long, waited for her on his ship, and for once, she was not afraid of him.

With manners that came from the age of which she had been born, he clicked his heels together and gave a courtly bow. "Milady," he said as he kissed the back of her hand. "Your next adventure awaits." She was aware that her pirate costume was back, and she cocked her head at the man. "What is the heading?"

"The winds will blow you where you need to be."

And with that, she took the helm.


End file.
